Dissolving apparatus



March 1.952 LE B-ARON B. JOHNSON ErAL 2,590,541

DISSOLVING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 14. 1947 Zlvwmwbcu hnson LeBaron B 70Eugene Geh Patented Mar. 25, 1952 DISSOLVING APPARATUS Le Baron B.Johnson, New York, N. Y., and Eugene Geh, Tenafiy, N. J assignors toOakite Products, Inc., New York, N. Y., a. corporation ApplicationNovember 14, 1947, Serial N 0. 786,008

2 Claims.

' The invention relates to devices for feeding, dispensing or meteringsolutions or suspensions of solids in liquids. It is particularlydesigned for the feeding of a solution of a soapy material at a uniformrate to industrial conveyor chains such as those in breweries, dairiesand other food handling plants.

. The proper lubrication of conveyor chains in .such places isparticularly important to minimize bottle breakage and deterioration ofthe chains. At the same time maintenance labor costs are kept as low aspossible.

\ Various devices have been suggested in the past for the feeding ofsmall quantities of a solu- .tion or suspension of a solid in a liquid.Such devices have been unsatisfactory either because they have had atendency to clog up and become useless, or because they have been socomplicated as to render them too expensive for practical use.Furthermore the regulation of such devices has been difficult.

1 The principal object of the present invention is to provide anarrangement of this type which is of simple construction while itoperates with satisfactory accuracy and without frequent cleaning.

Another object of the invention is to provide an arrangement of thistype in which clogging of the outflow for the solution is prevented in aparticularly efficient manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide an arrangement in whicha solution flowing at a slow rate, and particularly drop by drop, can bedistributed evenly between a plurality of outlets so as to obtain evendistribution of the solution.

A further object of the invention is to provide an arrangement wherebythe concentration or strength of the solution can be maintained as highor low as required without recourse to special apparatus.-

Still another object of the invention is to provide an arrangement inwhich the control of the rate of feed is extremely simple and requiresno special apparatus.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this typewhich is easy to clean if cleaning becomes necessary, and which can bereadily assembled and disassembled.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fullyfrom the following description, particularly when taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a cross-section through a feeding device embodying ourinvention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the distributing arrangement and Fig. 4 is across section, similar to Fig. 1,

through a portion of a modified form of feeding device. I

The device as shown in the drawings consists of a rectangular tank 2.Adjacent one end of this tank is a screen 4 which is formed in a bowedshape with its ends fitting into two of the corners of the tank. Thisscreen is removable so as to be readily cleaned and when in place isheld rigid by screw 5, threaded in block is to be described below. Thisscreen is provided with very fine perforations. The screen divides thetank into a chamber 6 adapted to be charged'with a solid material incake, paste, granulated or powdered form such as hard soap, soft soap oralkaline type cleanser or mixtures of the above, and chamber in whichholds solution or particles in suspension, ready for discharge from theapparatus.

Water, flowing through pet cock [6 and globe valve l4 flows from theturned down pipe elbow l3 through a removable pipe l5 into theapproximate center of the bottom portion of chamber 6. The pet cock isset to allow the water to flow through in the amount desired, and isthereafter left at such setting. The globe valve is used to open andclose the flow of water so as to shut it 01f entirely when the device isnot in use.

While we prefer to feed the water in the manner described herein, othermethods of controlling the flow might be used within the scope of theinvention. The water may, if desired, be allowed to flow only when theconveyor is in motion, such flow being regulated either manually orotherwise.

For some purposes, as will be described below. pipe It should be used.Usually, however, this pipe is removed and water is allowed to flow indrops or a small stream from the end of elbow 13 into the top of chamber6.

A block [8 is mounted on the end wall of the container within chamber IDby screws 20. This block has a passage 22 extending upwardly from itslower end, and turning at right angles to communicate with the centralpassage of a pipe section 24 threaded in block [8 through an opening inthe wall of the tank. Pipe 24 terminates in a downwardly turnedchannelled spout 26, the end of which is shaped to permit drops or asmall stream to fall off as the solution is fed through pipe 24. BlockI8 is also drilled with passage 21 which eliminates the possibility of asyphoning action.

Mounted on the outer end of pipe 24 is a distributor block 28 thevertical wall of which is threaded on the end of the pipe. Block 28 hasan inclined bottom wall 30 extending above and below the verticalprojection of the tip of spout 26, so that drops or a small streamdischarged from the spout will fall on the inclined bottom wall, 80.Below the point of projection of spout 26 on wall 30 there is anupstanding divider 32 extending above the plane of the upper face ofwall 30 and located in the same vertical plane as the axis of pipe 24.Extending from the lower end of block 28 are two diverging arms 34 inwhich are mounted pipes 36 communicating with passages in these armsopening at 38 into the interior of block 28 below the top of divider 32.

This arrangement operates as follows:

When water is discharged into compartment 6, it gradually dissolves orforms a suspension of the solid material therein and flows through theopenings in screen 4 into compartment l0. This result is achievedwhatever may be the amount of solid in compartment 6 because theopenings in screen 4 extend from top to bottom thereof. Compartment lfills up until the solution level 39 in the tank, indicated at 39,reaches the height of overflow passage 24, at which'time drops or asmall stream will fall from spout 26 onto wall 30 and will be divided bydivider 32 between the two pipes 36. Thus a measured equal feed ofsolution to two points, such as two separate conveyor chains or twopoints of a single conveyor chain, can be obtained. Because of the finemesh of the screen 4, it is impossible for solid particles of any sizeto pass into compartment l0, and there is thus no tendency to clog pipe24. One of the most important features of the invention lies in the factthat we cause pure water to be metered into compartment 6 where cloggingwill not occur and cause solution to pass only through relatively largepassages. Were solution to be metered, clogging would occur within thenecessarily small metering orifice.

There are frequent uses of the invention where a plurality of dischargepipes 36 are not required. Then block 28 and connecting pipe 24 are notrequired and a single tube 40 as shown at Fig. 4 is screwed into place;the other end of the tube being placed so that discharged solution willimpinge on a conveyor chain where desired.

Flexibility of the invention as to rate of flow of solution and as tosecuring any desired concentration of solution is shown as follows.

Assuming that the rate of flow of solution is determined, theconcentration or strength is maintained low when the charge of soap orother material is tightly packed in chamber 6. pared to this a moreloosely packed charge will result in the flow of a more highlyconcentrated solution. Additional concentration is secured if waterentering chamber 6 from the supply line passes through pipe Hi to apoint close to the bottom of chamber 6. Screen 4 plays an important partin the delivery of solution and the AS comsubstitution of a screen oflarger or finer mesh or larger or smaller area or shape results in thedelivery of correspondingly stronger or weaker solution.

While we have described herein some embodiments of our invention, WeWish it to be understood that we do not intend to limit ourselvesthereby except within the scope of the claims hereto or hereinafterappended.

We claim:

1. A device for feeding a solution or suspension of a solid material ina liquid, comprising a tank, a substantially vertical wall dividing saidtank into compartments, said wall extending from top to bottom of thetank and having small perforations along its whole height to permitcommunication between such compartments at all levels while preventingthe passage of large particles of solid material from one compartment tothe other, the first of said compartments being adapted to contain asolid material, and an overflow passage having a first substantiallyhorizontal part through the wall of the tank adjacent the top thereofand having a second part extending downwardly into the second of saidcompartments and communicating therewith at a point in the upper half ofthe tank adjacent but somewhat below said first part, said passageincluding a third part communicating with said first part and with theoutside at a point above said first part.

2. In a device as claimed in claim 1, said pipe having at its free end adownwardly turned, channeled spout, a member having an inclined surfacebelow the end of said spout, said member having two openings on oppositesides of a vertical plane normal to such surface and intersecting theend of the spout, and means extending upwardly from such surface belowthe point of the vertical projection of the spout on such surface and atleast partially above said openings for dividing the flow from saidspout equally between the two openings.

LE BARON B. JOHNSON.

EUGENE GEH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,733,464 McWilliams Oct. 29,1929 1,788,404 Murray Jan. 13, 1931 2,287,339 Balcunas June 23, 19422,502,726 Horton Apr. 4, 1950

